Mission:023 First Encounter

Mission:02-3: Clash

A heavy Walnut Cane struck the middle of the Serpent Sword, stopping the whip's tip from gathering force. The demon in the black Tailcoat appeared out of thin air and nimbly dodged Nero's attack.

The demon had long, pale flaxen curls and a pair of scarlet eyes worthy of the name "demon." Its handsome face was both sharp and soft, impossible to tell as male or female.

Faced with Nero's sudden attack, the demon raised a brow, a trace of surprise appearing on its face. It pressed in close, wrapped its cane around the Serpent Sword to suppress it, and thrust the tip toward Nero.

Even with its metal rounded head, the cane could not possibly harm a human body when used to "poke" rather than "smash." But considering the other party was a demon, and there was no telling whether it had some strange method, Nero still flashed backward and avoided the blow.

She withdrew Echidna. Gilgamesh emerged, and she met the cane that kept relentlessly pursuing her with a Spinning Kick.

In that instant, the cane changed from a thrust to an upward flick and left the demon's hand, making Nero's kick miss. It spun through the air, then was caught by the demon again the moment it fell. The demon pressed down the Top Hat on its head and swept the cane out horizontally once more.

This time, Nero reached out and caught it. The two fell into a deadlock.

"To attack the instant we meet—now that is hardly polite."

The demon smiled and spoke in that same androgynous voice. "Shouldn't you first listen to my self-introduction?"

Nero laughed coldly. "There's no such thing as a gentleman who sneaks up behind a Lady, either. If even demons wish to observe etiquette, then from the looks of it, you still have a long way to go."

The demon pressed down the brim of its hat and was the first to withdraw its strength. Nero also let go without hesitation, and the two separated.

She vaguely guessed that the other party should be a Heroic Spirit, but that demonic aura remained coiled around it, lingering no matter what. In her memory, the Type-Moon World should not have Heroic Spirits who were true demons. Those fellows called "demons" in stories had all been patched up in all sorts of ways before they landed as Heroic Spirits.

Some were artificial life-forms, some were the result of mistaken legends, some were different historical forms—in any case, none were truly demons.

This one before her, and that mysterious Sphinx from earlier, were both Heroic Spirits Nero had never seen in her previous life. Just like this strange Singularity.

"How rude of me, my kin." The demon laughed softly. "The human scent on you is too strong. It seems I may have looked wrong by accident."

Nero glared at the demon in annoyance. "I am human. Don't lump me together with you, demon."

"Oh?"

The demon shrugged. "Very well, if you insist."

Then it held the cane in a reverse grip, placed a hand against its shoulder, and bowed slightly. "First Meeting, 'human.' As you said, I am a 'demon,' and also a Heroic Spirit who is a magus."

"You don't intend to reveal your True Name?"

"That depends on whether we are on the same side."

As the demon spoke, it turned and called behind it, "It's fine now, Master. You can come out."

Hearing the word "Master," Nero could not help but be startled. She truly had not expected that the fellow opposite her had already found Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had come from Chaldea, and even seemed to have already formed a contract.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, the protagonist of the mobile game FGO, commonly known as "humanity's last Master." One of the last humans in the world after the history of humanity had been burned to ash by the Evil Beast.

And so, the orange-haired Girl hiding in the paddy field not far away poked her head out.

"Hello, I'm Chaldea's Master, Fujimaru Ritsuka." The orange-haired Girl extended her right hand and showed Nero the three-stroke Command Seal on the back of it.

"I know. You're here to resolve this Singularity, right?" Nero also extended her hand, holding it in midair. "I'm Nero."

Mm, Nero knew saying it like this would make the other party start imagining things, but she was too lazy to give herself a false name.

Besides, she had already told Beatrice her True Name. Coming up with a fake name now would only make things more troublesome.

As expected, Fujimaru Ritsuka began muttering after hearing that name. She tilted her head and asked in confusion, "Could you be Your Majesty the Emperor?"

"Not Claudius. Just Nero."

Nero shook her head, then added, "I'm alive."

"I see. An Alternate Timeline Counterpart!" Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded and shook Nero's hand, looking as if "I completely understand now." "Could it be that you can also travel between different eras like Musashi-chan?"

The process was wrong, but the result was right. Nero smiled somewhat forcedly and replied, "Yes... something like that."

That also made it convenient for the other party to understand why Nero possessed demonic power. After all, that Emperor Nero also had a variant in Type-Moon as the incarnation of Satan, the "Beast 666."

But... Musashi?

Nero recalled briefly. In her impression, this Heroic Spirit should have appeared only after Goetia, who had incinerated human history, was defeated.

And that pink-haired Girl, Mash, was not here either. The only Heroic Spirit standing beside Fujimaru Ritsuka was this demon.

How far had the plot of this world progressed?

So she asked Fujimaru Ritsuka, "Do you know what happened in this Singularity?"

A blue projection suddenly appeared beside Fujimaru Ritsuka. "Senpai, allow me to explain this."

It was Mash. Since she, as a demi-Servant, had not followed Ritsuka here and was instead providing support from within Chaldea, that meant this was indeed after the ending of Version 1.0. And considering this was a Singularity rather than a Lostbelt... in other words, was it some chapter from Version 1.5?

"This Singularity is located on the Island of England in the year 1348. Judging by the time, it is just before The Black Death breaks out here."

The Girl in the projection adjusted her glasses and looked at the documents before her as she said, "According to the information we gathered before carrying out the Rayshift, although the reason for the Singularity's birth is still unclear, we can be certain that it is connected to the Demon Pillars that survived previously.

"Furthermore, unlike the previous three similar Singularities, the time chosen by the enemy this time is indeed a node that could potentially cause a massive change in human history. Namely, the greatest plague in human history, which is currently breaking out in eastern Europe. But theoretically speaking, preventing it from expanding further can almost be regarded as impossible, so it is also unclear whether the enemy's scheme is truly related to this matter..."

"All right, all right." The demon interrupted her lengthy explanation. "In the end, the current situation is that we know nothing. Who the enemy is, where they are, what they want to do... we have to find a way to figure all of that out."

"Yes." Mash sounded a little dejected.

"So..." The demon looked at Nero, smiled provocatively, and asked, "You met that Ruler Heroic Spirit, didn't you?"

"You mean Sphinx?"

"As expected. I knew you could guess her identity."

The demon took a step back and handed the topic over to its Master. Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped forward and spoke cautiously. "Nero... Miss? I'd like to know, what did Sphinx say?"